


A Horned Serpent's Cry

by Lexi0Black



Series: A Tale across Time [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-25
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:41:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22890433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lexi0Black/pseuds/Lexi0Black
Summary: When Alexianis Pendragon was a child, she was happy. She had her twin brother, James, and their friends Amelia and Remus. The four of them have a bright future ahead. But when evil rises up in Albion, what troubles will fall upon the young prince and princess, their friends, and their kingdom?
Relationships: Charlus Potter/Dorea Black Potter
Series: A Tale across Time [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1645381





	1. Bright Indeed!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A future

A tall, powerful man in a leather jerkin walked down a brightly lit corridor. He walked as a warrior would. As, after all, that was what he was, a knight of the Realm. As he made his way to the end of the hall, he nodded to the two guards standing in front of a large door. The guards hastened to open the door for the man and he quickly continued into what appeared to be a mid-sized office with an open door leading into another room. In the office, a tall tall, broad-shouldered man with dark black hair sat behind a large ornate desk. On this man’s head sat an unassuming gold circlet. As the dark-haired man placed his quill down and dusted pounce powder on the paper to dry the ink, the knight stopped and stood quietly at attention a few paces from the desk. The seated man tiredly poured wax onto the letter that he had just finished, sealed it, and handed to the knight in front of him.  
“Make sure this gets to the Ministry before Wizengamot’s summer session begins on Friday. I want a reply promptly.” The man behind the desk leaned back and looked at his knight. “Thank you for doing this Jonathan, I know that you just returned from the patrol.”  
“Think nothing of it, Your Majesty. It is, after all my job.” The tall man, Jonathan, replied.  
“Please, Jon! This is so far beneath you, I am surprised that you even dignified my request with a visit! I have just been running the squires and messengers so hard that Michael ran into Cook! She was livid, and the poor child - mortified! My manservant, Henry, does not speak to me for fear that I will send him to do more work! The time between sunup and sundown has been fraught with such work that no one in the castle has stopped in days! I fear that by summer end, we shall all be buried in the paperwork and letters I receive and my needed replies!” The man at the desk, the King, threw his hands in the air before laying his head on the desk in front of him.  
“Charles, please, do not be so dramatic my friend. It will not be so busy soon enough.” Jonathan chuckled while relaxing and moving a chair from the side to sit in front of the desk.  
“Yes, it will not be busy after I die of overwork!” King Charles replied. Though with his head still buried in the desktop, his words came out muffled, “Mmmmph, mm mm mmmm mhh ummmm gurrrrrk!”  
“Charles!” Jon laughed, “Just take a break, go eat in another room, go for a ride, take your children out for a picnic, something! I am sure they miss you. Not to mention they must be tired of Madam Luisa. After all, while she is a fine seamstress, she is an old woman that cannot play with children as you can! And with Dorea in France and you holed up in here, they would have spent too long with Madam Luisa after a day!”  
“I know, I know. And I know that they miss their mother, I do as well. I will find them soon. I just needed to finish the letter for my ministry. Besides, it is not as if you are much better, my friend! How long has it been since you have been home and seen your wife and child? Hmmm?!” Charles lifted his head to glare at his long-time friend and confidant.  
“A fortnight and a day. And it appears a few hours more considering that I will be dealing with moronic minions that the ministry has employed! I will be heading to them as soon as I have delivered this letter. As it is, I have not been on patrol in several months. And while I love my family, I needed to be on the road again and to be doing something other than training.” Jonathan stretched and stared out the window towards the town that you could just barely see through the courtyard gate.  
“Yes, Yes. I am well acquainted with those at the ministry, but hopefully, you will be dealing with someone competent. As for patrol, I know the feeling. How did that go, by way?” Charles removed his circlet, set it on the desk, and leaned back in his seat.  
“It went well, no signs of troublemakers on the main roads to the border, nor has there been any signs of dark magick in your royal cousin’s side of the kingdom. In fact, there have not been any reports of issues caused by magic kind in non-magical England nor in magical Albion. At least none that have needed to draw our attention or that the Department of Magical Law Enforcement cannot handle.” Jonathan reported to his King promptly.  
“Good, good. I do not expect there to be any problems but better to be safer than sorry! I fear though that soon the knights will need to seek employment elsewhere to actually have something to do. At least so far as to be able to do something other than train. That is part of which I have included in the letter. I have instructed the minister to allow any knights that wish it, employment where they most fit in the ministry. Most I suppose will want to go into either the DMLE or the Department of Mysteries. Hopefully, the minister will not make too much of a fuss.” Charles contemplated.  
As Jonathan moved to reply, they were struck silent as the sound of giggles and the children’s light pitter-patter of feet came from outside the door. As the king and Jonathan smiled at each other, the guards opened the door and a blur of dark hair ran towards the king, followed by that of a blur of brown hair. As they both neared Charles, he quickly stood up and caught both by their waists and hoisted them into the air! More giggles erupted from the dark-haired boy on his left and the brown-haired girl on the right. The twins, no more than five years in age, hugged Charles tightly.  
“Daddy!” “Daddy!” “Are you done?” “Can we go for a picnic?” “Cook said that she would prepare a basket!” “Can Remus come with us?” “No! It is a picnic with Daddy! You always invite Remus!” “He is my bestest friend! He can come!” “Cannot!” “Can!” “Cannot!” “Can!” “Then I shall invite Amelia!” “You shan’t!” “Shall!” “Shan’t!” “Shall!” The twins switched talking quickly though it soon devolved into arguing. The two men exchanged a look.  
Charles sighed but quickly calmed the children and answered them both, “Hello James, Alexianis. Yes, I am finished and yes we can go on a picnic. Though perhaps you should ask Amelia’s and Remus’ parents if they can come with? Yes?”  
Ale’s eyes grew and squirmed to get down. “Okay! I will go ask Amy now!” she answered breathlessly. She proceeded to grab the hand of the maid that had followed the children in and drag her out, “Come Tiarra! We have to hurry and ask Amy!”  
Tiarra quickly curtsied to the King and called on her way out “I shall let Cook know to fix a basket for your Majesty and let the stable master know to saddle the needed steeds.”  
“Thank you Tiarra!” Charles called before motioning to the guards that they can close the doors.  
“Can Remus come with us, Jon? Please!?” James blurted just as the doors closed.  
Jonathan smiled at the young prince, “I do not know, you two tend to play too many pranks! I am not sure that your father can handle that.”  
Charles and James looked upon Jon with twin looks of outrage. “You think I cannot handle two pranksters barely past five years of life? You mock me, sir!” “We would never prank my daddy!”  
Jonathan laughed and nodded, “Very well, I believe that Kathrein and I can manage dinner without Remus tonight. And yes Charles, you very well know that I do mock you.”  
“Then I suppose that we really must get ready for a picnic in the glade, hmm James?” To answer Charles' question, James squirmed to get down from his father’s arms.  
James went around Charles and started to push him towards the open door. It led to his bedchambers, and from there, James shoved his dad towards the tall closet in the corned. “Get changed! Get changed! Get changed! Hurrrrrrryyyy Uuupppppp Daddyyyyyy!” James continued to push him along.  
Charles and Jonathan laughed at the young boy’s antics. “Very well! Jon, would you mind fetching your son and meeting us at the city’s gates?”  
Jonathan bowed his head, “Of course Majesty! We will see you soon.” Jonathan swiftly turned and headed back the way he had come just an hour before. As he left, he heard James whining, “Come onnnnnn! Daddyyy! Come on Come on Come onnnnn!”  
Twenty minutes later, Jonathan was sitting on his horse with a brown-haired child beside him on another, calmer, steed. This child of five years, Remus, fidgeted in his saddle. Remus quickly cheered out, “Jay! Ale! Amy! Ready for a pi-cin-nic?”  
James answered from his own horse, just as excitedly, “Yes! I am sooo ready!” Ale and the small strawberry-blonde Amelia quickly agreed and trotted their steeds up to Jonathan and Remus.  
Charles, following on his own gelding, laughed and called out over the four children as they loudly chatted, “Well, Jon, I do not think I am getting any more work down with these bundles of energy with me! So you got your wish, I am taking a break.”  
Jon laughed along as he turned to get ready to leave. “Good Luck is all I can say. You deserve it!” As he headed towards the house to catch a floo to the ministry of magic, Charles herded the excitable children towards the gate for the short ride to the glade a few miles down the forest path.  
Soon the children and Charles reached the glade where Charles helped each dismount before tying the horses to a low branch near the stream on the far side of the glade. After laying out the blanket and unpacking the food, the king and the children dug in. As he ate, Charles sat back and watched the children chat and laugh without a care. As he looked at them, he knew that the future was bright indeed. After all, with children like these as Albion’s future, there was no chance of it not being bright. With that thought, he leaned in and joined the children’s conversation, laughing to himself at just how wonderful and strange children’s minds were. The future was bright indeed!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> Hey Y’all!  
> Sorry, Sorry, Sorry! I know I promised to work on DBPT and I have been! I solemnly swear on a Hogwarts toilet seat! But as I was working on rewriting chapter five and writing chapter six, I realized that I really do not like doing the time skip that I did, but that I also could not figure out how to write James’ and Hermione’s story without it seeming really drawn out and not really fitting in with DBPT. So I came up with this, I will write out their story up to the point of Hermione going missing, maybe a little bit past. This way I can get this story on paper and NOT AK my wonderful (i.e. horrible!) little bunnies that just keeps tossing ideas my way and eating away at my sleep!  
> So here you go, written at half past one in the freakin morning (when I SHOULD be SLEEPING you stupid little brat of a plot bunny! QUIT MULTIPLYING YOU FLUFFY LITTLE MONSTERS!) the first chapter of the A Horned Serpent’s Cry!  
> Catch ya on the flip side!  
> Lexi


	2. Grand Indeed!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A return

A clatter rose in the courtyard as four children ran from the training courtyard to the golden castle that was standing silent vigil over the lower town. As they hurried to the castle, a magnificent woman stepped out of the fireplace in the entry hall. This beautiful brown-haired woman stepped gracefully towards King Charles and held out her hand. As he reached for her, she spoke out in a calm voice, “Charles my love, how glad I am to see you again. I have missed you so, my husband.”.  
Kissing her hand in greeting, Charles replied, “Dorea, darling. I am so very glad that you have returned. How was France, how were Louis and Marie?”  
“Well. And Very well, my love. Though it was a long trip and I would love to be able to Greet My Children in a timely manner.” Dorea smiled as she extended her voice to reach the four children that were now trying to sneak in the back of the entry hall. The children all froze with identical innocent looks and sheepishly stepped towards the Queen. All four bowed or curtsied before Jay and Ale rushed to hug their mother. Charles steadied her as she stumbled as they tried to climb into her arms.  
“Now, now children, be gentle, your mother has been traveling for months, she is exhausted.” Charles laughed and looked toward Jon & Remus and Mariet & Amy. Amy looked as excited as Jay and Ale that her mother had returned. Charles returned the other two’s grins and motioned that they and the rest of the party of returning members of the court and the greeting party that awaited them should leave. “Go on, all of you. I believe that we can all take a break today. Return to your families and reunite. That is what we will be doing.”  
As everyone bowed and left, with added waves and shouts of goodbye from the four children, Dorea and Charles led their small family of four to the family suites a few floors up. As they walked with Jay and Ale in front and chatting away about what they had done and what their mother had missed, Dorea was greeted by all the staff, knights, and court members that they passed. Murmurs of praise and gratitude towards the stately Queen were heard in all corners of the castle as she moved to the rooms with her family. A stately woman passed through shining halls of a grand home that has stood for several millennia seeing many births, many battles, many deaths, many victories, and most importantly, many families. A Grand Sight Indeed!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:  
> Hey, Y’all!  
> Sorry, this is super short! This has been sitting on my computer since March waiting for me to add to it, but every time I open it up I can’t find a way to add to it and still have a good place to stop. Soooo, as this is a collection of one-shots, I don’t really feel that bad for making it super short. As I am in the middle of my last ever set of finals ever. Did I mention EVER!?!?! YES! I am graduating from college on Wednesday!!!!! I am so freaking excited!!!! Anywhoooo, here’s some advice from a soon to be a college grad.  
> Be good if you can, Don’t get caught if you can’t and Have duct tape and a good quality shovel in your trunk for emergencies if you are,  
> Lexi


End file.
